# Polishing with your non-dominant hand



## StakeEdward (Jan 4, 2011)

I don't paint my nails that often, but I want to start painting them more. However, I've always been a little bad at painting with my left hand (I'm right-handed). It's not easily noticeable with lighter polishes, but with darker polishes &amp; mattes it's harder to mask the imperfections. Any tips?


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## Thefemaleclown (Jan 4, 2011)

As strange as it sounds, when I use my left hand to paint my right.. I don't actually move my left hand. I hold the brush but I move my right hand to guide it across the nail.


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## pumpkincat210 (Jan 5, 2011)

It used to be awkward for me, but it's not so bad now.  

make sure you have enough polish on your brush to paint to the tip of your nails. i usually do 2 layers with 3 strokes on each nail.  have some q tips ready and polish remover so if it runs in the sides of your nails you can wipe it out faster.   after you let it sit for a couple minutes, apply a fast dry top coat in the same manner. Use enough that it won't make the polish under it "rough" looking.  Again i do 3 strokes or a 1 quick on sideways across the tips and then 3 up and down.  again use the q tips. to dry it faster, have some ice water ready to dip your fingers in. when it's good and dry (30 minutes to an hour depending on the polish), you can then gently clean up the edges with some hand soap and warm water.


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## Karren (Jan 5, 2011)

Practice practice practice....


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## honeykim (Jan 5, 2011)

> Originally Posted by *Karren* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> Practice practice practice....



 well said.

i usually go get my nails done, cause i'm horrible at doing nails. if there's one imperfection then i get into a rage. hahhaa.

but when i do my own nails, with my left hand i try to keep the wrist/side of hand on a table so it won't shake.


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## Annelle (Jan 5, 2011)

> Originally Posted by *Thefemaleclown* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> As strange as it sounds, when I use my left hand to paint my right.. I don't actually move my left hand. I hold the brush but I move my right hand to guide it across the nail.



I do something like this too.

When I'm using my dominant hand, my other hand rests on a table, and I paint them like I'm drawing with a brush.

When I'm using my opposite hand, I do something different. I have my dominant hand palm side up, fingers curled (You know how the girls hands always are when they show nail polish swatches on their blogs?  My dominant hand is in that position), and I have my non-dominant resting on top of my dominant wrist, with the brush hovering over the nail.  Then I do a combined effort of moving the brush slightly back as I unbend my finger a bit to get the polish on it.  Seems to work out for me since my left hand does minimal actual movement then.

edit: Practice does do a ridiculous amount of help though.  Re-do your nails as soon as they start to chip (heh, normally within a few days) and after about a month, they're a lot easier to do.


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 7, 2011)

Ha ha, and I thought I was special! I move my right hand and keep the left (mostly) still too. What helps me is the first instance the polish touches my nail is a blob in the center, then I paint my tips, then paint from the cuticle outwards beginning in the middle. The trick is to move the brush lightly and quickly over the nail. It takes practice. Lots of practice.


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## magosienne (Jan 7, 2011)

Practice, and i go slowly, especially with black because it's a pain to clean afterwards. But i can't always avoid the clean up part, and usually i have more polish to get rid of on my left hand (i'm a lefty).

Laying your hands on a flat surface also helps, all you have to do then is to lay the brush on the nail and drag it firmly.


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 7, 2011)

Yea, I agree about the flat surface.


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